Page:The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Vailima Edition, Volume 8, 1922.djvu/395

NEW POEMS VII

VERSES WRITTEN IN 1872

1

HOUGH he that ever kind and true,

Kept stoutly step by step with you

Your whole long gusty lifetime through

Be gone a while before,

Be now a moment gone before,

Yet, doubt not, soon the seasons shall restore

Your friend to you.

2

He has but turned a corner—still

He pushes on with right good will,

Thro' mire and marsh, by heugh and hill

That self-same arduous way,—

That self-same upland hopeful way,

That you and he through many a doubtful day

Attempted still.

3

He is not dead, this friend—not dead,

But, in the path we mortals tread,

Got some few, trifling steps ahead,

And nearer to the end,

So that you, too, once past the bend,

Shall meet again, as face to face, this friend

You fancy dead.

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